Collections
by Dreamless-Mermaid
Summary: UPDATE! I've decided to roll all of my challenges into one HUGE story. A Thousand Sweet Kisses and Ice are still here and another soon-to-be update! Please read and review!
1. Challenge One: A Thousand Sweet Kisses

A Thousand Sweet Kisses  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
  
AN: This one-shot is part of the newsie challenge group that I have joined. This week's challenge was to write a fic involving character death, but it had to be fluff. Hard? I thought so at first, but then I came up with this.  
  
I have dedicated this to my best friend LegallyRed, A.K.A Kathleen. I know I'm cruel, but I thought that the main character should have a taste of this instead of the other ones. If that made ANY sense. . .((shrugs)) Anyway, on with the story! ((smiles))

* * *

She stood at her window, hand on the pane, staring at her faint reflection. Her vibrant red hair was spread out across her shoulders, wavy and beautiful. Her small blue-gray eyes were currently wide with worry as her gaze shifted to the blood red sunset beyond. The sky above her home was a light pink and wispy, smoky gray clouds were drifting across the sea of pink. Her other hand went to her stomach and she let it linger there before she felt a presence behind her. She turned.  
  
Another girl stood there, her features etched with concern. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and her big chocolate brown eyes gazed at the other girl. This girl walked up to the other and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Kathy, what's wrong? You've been standing there for over an hour." She said gently.  
  
"He hasn't called. He _always_ calls before he gets off work, always. It's past eight and still nothing."  
  
"I'm sure he's fine. He might just be on his way-"the girl started, but Kathy shook her head.  
  
"No, Dani he's not. Don't ask me how, but I feel it. Right here." Kathy said, pointing to her stomach. Dani smiled and put her hand where Kathy's once was. Kathy was three months pregnant, and already she had been claiming that she had a strong connection with her baby girl, who she's ALREADY named Wendy.  
  
As if someone were reading Kathy's thoughts, she heard an ambulance drive by. The sirens were probably about half a block away, but Kathy heard them, clear as day. Kathy stepped away from her best friend.  
  
"What is it?" Dani asked. Kathy turned and grabbed her coat, for it may look hot outside but it was actually the end of November and the temperature had started to drop by nightfall.  
  
"I'm going to the hospital." Kathy said shortly, putting on her coat, grabbing her car keys and her purse. Dani blinked.  
  
"What? Why?" she asked, perfectly confused. Stepping into her shoes, Kathy started to the front door.  
  
"Because I know there's something wrong. Don't ask me how, I just do." Kathy said. In a last second decision, Dani picked up her coat that was tossed carelessly onto the couch and tugged it on and her shoes as well.  
  
"Well then I'm going with you. Whatever you're on about, Blink might be with him and I have to uh. . .tell him about-"Dani said hesitantly.  
  
"That you're about a month pregnant?" Kathy asked, raising her eyebrow as she and Dani walked out of the house. Dani's eyes widened.  
  
"How did you know about that?" Dani asked in shocked. Kathy couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Girl, you're my best friend and have been for years. I know you better than anyone. Did you think you could hide something like that from me?" Kathy said, getting into her dark red Mustang. Dani shrugged and got into the passenger side and clicked her seat belt into place.  
  
"I was going to tell you eventually. I just wanted to tell Blink first." Dani said and Kathy nodded knowingly, seeing that she had waited two months before telling her husband she was pregnant. They pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street, putting the Mustang to its true test.

* * *

While driving, Kathy couldn't help but think about her husband. She _knew_ that something was wrong and couldn't help but push her foot down just a little bit more on the gas pedal. Her mind wandered and the radio the song was playing fizzled away as she thought back to the day they met.  
  
It was approximately one year ago that Kathy had just gotten off of work and had a really bad day. She ventured into the bar located a little way from her apartment. She ordered a drink and sat by herself for a little while before a man strode up to her and started hitting on her. Of course, Kathy had been a little creeped out by him. So she told him so and he just laughed. He said that he had just gotten out of a very bad relationship two months before and was here with his friends Blink and Mush. He told her that he wasn't very good at picking up women and said he used to be great at it in high school. Kathy had laughed and the two started up another conversation and stayed talking until the bar had to close for the night. Before they left, he had asked her out on a date.  
  
The two dated for a good three months, him introducing Dani and Blink to each other and ending up falling in love. He proposed to Kathy on Christmas Eve in the snow, under the stars. The night had been clear, something very odd for Manhattan, New York. Beside him, he had drawn a heart in the snow with his gloved finger and then brought out the little black box. He had then written "Kathy, will you marry me?" in the snow and before he could say anything else, Kathy had accepted, kissed him passionately. . .and started a snowball fight. Three days later, Blink asked Dani to marry him and Dani and Kathy had a double wedding in the middle of July.  
  
Kathy smiled as these memories flowed through her and she soon realized that she was pulling into the parking lot of the hospital. She quickly parked the car and her and Dani scrambled out and practically ran into the hospital and up to the front desk.  
  
"Can I help you?" asked the nurse at the desk.  
  
"Where's my husband?" Kathy asked. The nurse looked at her strangely.  
  
"Are you Mrs. -?" the nurse asked, just seeming to know. Kathy nodded. "We were just about to call you. Third floor, room 12."  
  
"Thank you." Kathy said and her and Dani ran to the elevator, pushed the number 3 button and waited impatiently as the elevator slowly drifted up. Once it arrived at their destination, they stepped out and searched the corridor for the 12th room. Upon finding it, Kathy pulled open the door and found a man sitting beside another man in a bed. The first man turned at the sound of the door opening, stood up and walked over to them. He was pretty tall with blonde shaggy hair and an eyepatch over his left eye, while his other eye was hazel. Dani embraced him in a hug.  
  
"Blink, is he-"Dani started.  
  
"He-he was shot. Caught in the middle of a gang shooting on his way out the door from work." Blink said in a low voice and Dani could tell he had been crying. They turned to Kathy, who was staring at the man in the bed with her eyes glazed over. She slowly walked over to him. She sat on the edge of the bed and took his slightly warm hand into hers and watched his respirator. He was on life support and clothed in the traditional dressing gown. His auburn wavy hair was over his eyes and Kathy reached out a hand to push it away.  
  
At that moment his eyes opened and he smiled warmly at her and she returned the smile.  
  
"Hey, baby. I thought something happened to you, but I didn't think it was anything this bad." Kathy said and laughed a little, tears escaping her eyes. She could see tears in his eyes as well and he tried to reach out to her stomach. She grinned and guided his hand and let him touch her stomach, where baby Wendy was residing. Dani and Blink stood in the corner, watching silently, Blink's arms around Dani.  
  
"Kathy-"he started weakly but Kathy silenced him with a sweet, light kiss. She could hear his heartbeat on the monitor. _Beep. . .beep. . .beep_, the beeps getting slower by the second and Kathy knew she would be loosing him soon. This made her cry harder. A hand touched her face and she looked up to see it was his hand, smoothing away the tears. She grabbed his hand again and stood up and scooted up more on the bed and sat until she was directly over his face. She smiled lovingly down at him.  
  
"Remember when we said that one of these days we would give each other a thousand kisses?" Kathy whispered and he nodded, his eyes closing. "I'll start." She leaned over and gave him a light kiss on his left cheek. "One," she whispered. She kissed him on his nose. "Two," She kissed him on his forehead. "Three." Kathy kept going and going. _Beep. . . . . . . . . . . beep. . . . . . . . . . . .beep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . beep. . . . . . . . . . . . ._ "Ten." Kathy whispered, her voice shaking. This kept going more, until she finally got to number one hundred. _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. . . . . . . ._ She broke down this time, crying, her sobs echoing around the small room. Dani hid her head into Blink's chest and was crying also, Blink letting a few tears escape himself.  
  
With one final kiss, Kathy whispered, "I love you, Jack Kelly." And with that, she let his hand go, as well as the man she loved.

* * *

AN: So? Was it good, was it fluffy enough? NOT fluffy enough? ((shrugs)) This is my first challenge, and I'm not very good at fluff. I try but oh well. LoL. This title is from RENT's song "I'll Cover You" and the line a thousand sweet kisses is in it. I DO NOT OWN RENT! Awesome-ist musical ever. . .well the soundtracks are. LoL. Kathy, I hope you liked this story! Sorry it's so morbid but you know. It's for the challenge. PLEASE REVIEW, EVERYONE!  
  
Dreamless-Mermaid 


	2. Challenge Two: Ice

* * *

Ice

By: DreamlessMermaid

AN: Hey guys! It's challenge week! This thing really did happen and I PRETENDED to be laughing at myself when inside I was like 'Oh my God, I can't BELIEVE that just happened!' I was trying to laugh it off but my friends were just like "You are SO red." I tried, but it didn't work. Heh.

**Take one of your worst moments.  
Stick it in ANY era.  
Pick a POV (first person).  
Make it one of their best.**

There ya go. Enjoy and please don't make fun of me. LoL. Shout outs at the bottom to all who reviewed my last challenge!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. The movie is mentioned in here but I DO NOT own it. Disney does and always will. Lucky bastards. ((pause)) Anyway, yeah. Once again, I don't own Newsies. Thank you ((bows))**

* * *

I hate the cold. I don't understand why I had to go in the first place. 'It'll benefit you and your classmates need you!' says my mother. Actually, I'm over exaggerating. It's not THAT cold, considering it's March thirty-first, but it's starting to snow and the wind chill is picking up. And what am I doing? Standing here waiting for a fucking bus!

I zipped up my coat as far as it could go and crossed my arms over my chest to stop the shivering. It was my last day here in Winter Park, Colorado and I was supposed to be returning my skiing gear to the main office. My bags were packed and already on the charter bus that would be taking us back to New York. By us I mean myself as well as the rest of my choir. Every other year the two choirs, Honor and Women's Ensemble, would take an out of state trip. I was lucky because I was a senior this year.

Everyone got assigned to condos of their very own and could stay with up to six people. I had stayed with Jack, Mush, Race, Spot and David.

A hand hit my back and someone behind me laughed. "Come on, Blink. It's really not that bad."

I turned to face them, still shivering. "Jack, I'm freezing my ass off!" I said, my teeth chattering. I know it may seem stupid for me to be cold at the end of March when I live in New York, but I'm originally from Auburn, Alabama. They don't get snow in Auburn, Alabama. The closest I've come to snow is maybe an inch. That wasn't even snow! It was slosh and mud and ice. Not even enough to make a decent snowball. I just moved to New York around Christmas time and that was worse! I went to school in layers of clothing, socks too!, and everyone else was apparently used to it. I've never really been anywhere outside of Alabama so cold places were not my area of expertise.

"You're such a wimp, Blink. You think this is bad? Try living near the border of Canada for a while, THEN come talk to me. This is warm to me." Spot said, taking off his heavy coat and was only left with his sweatshirt. I looked over and saw David and Mush trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue.

I suddenly heard singing coming from behind me and I turned to see the ski lift and two girls riding down. They were the only ones coming down the mountain, everyone else was going up. I shifted my skis to try and get a better view of them and I instantly recognized bright red hair. That must be Kathleen, Jack's girlfriend. She was in Honor Choir with Jack and was actually pretty good, even though she insists that she isn't. Even in a crowded room it was hard not to spy Kathleen because of her vibrant hair and bubbly personality.

I also recognized the girl sitting next to her who, even sitting down, was taller than Kathleen. She had blonde hair that was currently pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and, even though I couldn't see from this distance I just knew, she had dark brown eyes. Kind of like the dark chocolate brown that you use for cooking. The chocolate wasn't very good or sweet but the girl sure was.

The girls were known as Red and Hollywood, Red being Kathleen and Hollywood being my blonde crush, Danielle. Hollywood was in Women's Ensemble and Honor Choir, although we don't talk much. We were introduced to each other the first day I moved here by Mush, my best friend who I had met at lunch. After the director listened to my voice and decided where to put me, I ended up sitting right next to Hollywood on the top row. She was a soprano 2 and I a tenor and I had to admit, it was pretty hard singing next to someone with a totally different part and voice than me. She had a nice voice, not pop star perfect, but nice for choir standards. You would think that by sitting next to someone you would end up talking to them eventually right? Wrong. Every time I worked up my courage to try and start a conversation, I would glance over and see her either talking to Red or reading.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I heard them singing something from a movie. Probably one of their favorite that they obsess over and talk about at least twice a day.

"Santa Fe! Are you there? Do you swear you won't forget me?" came Red's voice.

"If I found you would you let me come and stay? I ain't getting any younger, and before my dying day-" came Hollywood's voice.

"-I want space-"

"-Not just air-"

"-Let 'em laugh in my face I don't care!"

"Saaaaave a place! I'll be there." They finished together and went into fits of laughter. I grinned and put up another tally on my mental checklist. How many times they would sing something from Newsies. Let's see that would be. . .the fifth time today. Wow, they really were obsessed.

"I hate it when they mention Newsies. Especially when Red mentions that one guy." David said.

"What guy?" Mush asked.

"You know, that famous guy with the cowboy hat and the bandana."

"Oh, THAT guy! Yeah me too. I feel like she loves him more than me." Jack said.

"Well she kinda does," Spot muttered and Jack glared at him. "It's true!" I laughed and rolled my eyes, erm- _eye_ seeing as how I wear an eyepatch over my left, and was about to turn away when I saw something happen out of the corner of my eye.

It happened in about a split second. I saw the girls getting off the ski lift, walking on the green carpeted platform, Hollywood looking down and jumping off. It was only a little jump, more like a hop actually, and I guess what she thought was snow was actually ice. I saw her hop on the snow/ice, her feet slide out from under her and fall. She fell right on her butt and the rest of her body fell back, her head hitting the platform a little. I guess the other guys saw it too because they went, "Ohhhh" and "Ouch" and "That look like it hurt". Hollywood seemed to be taking it well because she was laughing loudly from her position on the ground. Red was standing there in shock but was soon laughing too. I sighed, put my ski stuff down and started to walk over to them.

"Oh my God, Hollywood are you okay?" I heard Red ask through her gasps of laughter. I saw everyone that was in the line to get on the ski lift look in their direction. Once Hollywood stopped laughing, they looked away and resumed what they were doing and as Red stepped off to offer Hollywood a hand up, I was quicker and got there first. I bent down and stuck out my hand. The laughter that I witnessed in her eyes vanished as she realized that it was my hand and, blushing a bit, she accepted my offer and I pulled her up.

"Thanks." She said nervously. Ha! Now's my chance to try and talk to her!

"That was a pretty nasty fall. You gonna be all right?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. My ass will probably be sore for a while but other than that I'm good." She said and laughed a little. I smiled. This was actually very easy. Wish I'd thought of this sooner.

"Don't worry I did the same thing on my first day of school. I was late to a class that required me to cross the courtyard and there was a patch of ice that I didn't see and before I knew it, BOOM! I slipped and almost twisted my ankle. Luckily no one was around to see it." I said and she laughed. This made me smile more.

The three of us walked back to the bus area where we met up with two other girls that were in Women's Ensemble. Kassy had her hand in David's and Scarlett's arm was looped through Spot's. Red walked up to Jack, they hugged, Jack kissed Red on the cheek and slid his arm around her waist. Hollywood and I talked for a while, _actually_ talking, until the bus came, _FINALLY_. We seemed to be really connecting with each other and I wasn't the only one thinking the same thing.

It's amazing how _ice_ can bring two people together.

* * *

AN: Okay, so I know the ending probably sucked but I wanted to get this up ASAP. So, yeah. LoL. Well, how was it? I hope it was okay, so please review! But no flames, I got a flame last time and it sucked. LoL. Okay, now time for the shout outs. Remember, these are shout outs to those who reviewed A Thousand Sweet Kisses, so if you were one of them then expect a shout out.

**cookiegoilforever- LoL, sorry if I confused you. I confuse myself at times, but I wrote that in the wee hours of the morning was like "Eh, whatever." LoL. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review. As for the challenge thing goes, I was invited so I have no idea. If I knew where to go I would tell you. LoL. Thanks again!**

**hotspotslingshot- Yoda! Oh my God, I haven't talked to you in forever! How've you been? Good I hope. YOU NEEEEED TO UUUUUUUPDATE! ((whines)) I'm almost done writing chapter 9 so if I will you will right? Aw, come on that's a fair deal! LoL. As I said about the challenge, I honestly don't know. I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! ((cowers in corner)) LoL. No but seriously, I would tell you if I did. Anyway, thanks bunchies! ((hugs you))**

**xyz- Aw, I didn't mean to make you cry! But I guess that's how you know if it was good if you can make people cry. That's just my opinion, you can choose to ignore it if you wish. LoL. Anyway, thanks for the review!**

**Red- Yeah, I could picture you starting a snowball fight. That's what made me write it. LoL. DUH, the bad relationship was Sarah. Who wouldn't wanna get out of that? LOL. Again, I didn't mean to make you cry. I just write what comes out. Ha, omg that _would_ have been funny if he called you Red on his deathbed. I would have laughed while crying but that's just me. Hehe. YOU'RE STORY WAS BETTER THAN MINE! ((dodges shoes being thrown)) Ha! Missed! ((gets pelted with peanuts)) Psh, peanuts don't hurt me! ((gets pelted with coconuts)) ACK! COCONUTS! ((ducks for cover)) LoL. Anyway, thanks for the review! Luv ya lots, girly!**

**Anon- I don't know if you deserve a shout out. I mean for one you weren't even brave enough to leave your real penname. Rule number one, if you're going to leave a flame then don't chicken out and put "Anon" or "Anonymous". That just makes you look stupid. And two, yeah I didn't do any of that stuff. That's why it's called Fan _FICTION_. Hence the word fiction. Meaning not real. If you would like to leave constructive criticism and tell me what I'm doing wrong and maybe give me some useful tips instead of flaming me then that's cool. Remember, I'm not trying to get anything published so not everything has to be perfect.**

**My Dog Ate My Penname- I'm a RENT fan too! Well, duh, hence the title. LoL. I've been reading some stories with mentions of RENT and I was just like "Hmm, I wanna check this out." So I did and now I'm hooked. I wish I lived in New York so I could go see it. That would be awesome. See the original cast and everything. Yeah that would SO make my day. LoL. Thanks for the review!**

**Dimonah Tralon- Thankies! At first I couldn't IMAGINE killing of a character, especially Jack! But once I started to write it, I realized that it was okay. I wasn't going to faint because I killed off someone that gorgeous. Hehe. Thanks for the review and the reviews on my other story! I should be putting up chapter 9 for Newsies 2004? Soon so watch out for it. Thanks again!**

Well there ya have it. Once again, please review. But no flames, I've decided that I don't like them. LoL. Thanks!

Dreamless-Mermaid


	3. Challenge Three: Steppin' Out

Steppin' Out

AN: CHALLENGE WEEK! Yay! I'm actually DOING a challenge for once. Well, actually two challenges. I'm just combining them into one whole story. Which is what I will probably do from now on. Combine all my challenges, mostly one shots, into a one huge story, making it seem like I have chapters.

Okay you guys, this is my **_VERY FIRST_** slash. It's a Sprace so please, please, PLEASE be gentle. I'm actually very proud of myself. Anyway, the first challenge: **Write a scene- maybe an argument? - consisting only of dialogue. **The purpose of the title is because Race has, ahem, _stepped out_, and Spot hasn't and everyone knows that Spot is gay, even though he denies it. In this conversation, everyone is trying to hook them up.

It's like a six-way phone conversation so it might get a little wacky. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out who everyone is pretty quickly though. Okay, on with the challenge!

* * *

"Hey, guys!"

"Heya!"

"Hey, hoes,"

"Spot, be nice,"

"He _is_ being nice,"

"What Jack said. So why the hell did I get dragged into this?"

"Because. . .why not?"

"Because I got better stuff to do than to sit around on my ass talking to you bums,"

"Well if you don't like it then you can just leave,"

"Fine, I will,"

"No!"

"Way to jump into the conversation, Blink,"

"Sorry, I was busy with my girlfriend,"

"But. . .I'm at Red's house,"

"I meant my _other_ girlfriend,"

". . .WHAT?! You bastard! I don't believe you-!"

"Hollywood, quiet! Remember why we're here!"

"But. . .But. . .He. . But-"

"Yeah, I know my ass is perfect. You don't have to remind me,"

"Oooh you're such a jackass,"

"Okay that's enough!"

"Jack, just get to the fucking point. Why did you decide to call all of us at once?"

"Uh. . .Hey, Hollywood, Red, I think I hear something down at your end,"

"What? Jack your. . .I can't. . ."

"Damn, static electricity,"

"Blink, that's _not _static electricity,"

"I think. . .breaking. . .I'll. . .tomorrow. . .Bye!" _Click_.

"Oh man, we lost them. Race, you still there buddy?"

"Sure am, Jack,"

"Jack, Blink, what the _HELL_ is going on?"

"I think I hear my mom calling. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Spot,"

"Don't hang up, Jack, don't you DARE-" _Click._

"I have to go too. I still have homework to do,"

"You _never_ have homework, Blink,"

"I do tonight. See you tomorrow, Spot, see ya, Race."

"Blink, I swear to _God_ if you hang up on me I'll-" _Click._

"DAMN THEM!"

"Well. . .at least we're alone now,"

"I guess so. So what's going on in your life, Race?"

"Not a whole lot. What about you?"

"Nadda. Look, Race, I have some stuff to do before I hit the sack-"

"Wait, I have something to ask you,"

"Yeah?"

"Well, see there's this guy I know,"

"Uh huh,"

"I know him pretty well. We've been friends for a couple of years now,"

"Yeah,"

"And well, I've already _stepped out_ and he knows that,"

"That was really brave of you by the way,"

"Thanks,"

"Welcome,"

"But what he doesn't know, is that I like him. A lot. But the problem is, he denies that he's gay and I KNOW that he is. I see all the signs, he's just too afraid to admit it,"

". . .Right. Go on,"

"How do I get him to come out? How do I tell him that it's okay to be different? That we're just the same as every other human being. . .With the exception of our sexuality, of course,"

". . . . . .,"

"Spot, you there?"

"I'm here. Wow, that's um. . .That's deep, Race,"

"Yeah but it's the truth,"

"Uh huh. Well, I guess you could tell this guy exactly what you told me. But what if this guy tells you that not only is he afraid but embarrassed?"

"Embarrassed? How?"

"Okay, say, hypothetically of course, that he was on the football team and basically the toughest guy in school. What would people say if he came out? What would they think of him?"

"Maybe he shouldn't care what people think so much,"

"Well maybe he just needs to think a little bit and try and figure everything out because I, I mean HE, might be very confused right now!"

"I've KNOWN that he's been gay since I met him in middle school. He's had all these years to figure it out,"

"Yeah but if you tell him that you like him and if he thinks to himself that maybe he really is gay but he's still not sure, this guy would be REALLY confused!"

". . . . .,"

"Hello?"

"Spot, cut the shit!"

"What am I cutting? There's nothing to cut!"

"I KNOW you're gay,"

". . .No I'm not. Besides, how do you know?"

"Spot, that guy is YOU. I like YOU! I've always liked you, ever since I've known you and first admitted to myself that I was gay,"

"Since when?"

"Ninth grade. You?"

"Race. I. AM. NOT. GAY!"

"YES. YOU. ARE!"

"You can't make me change my mind! I'm still very undecided about this and very confused,"

"I understand that. But I've seen you. I see the way you look at other guys when we're at the mall while the others check out the girls. Just. . .Like I said before, it's okay to be different. You saw what happened with me. Not one of our friends thought any less of me and they certainly didn't treat me differently. I just want you to know that I like you and I hope you feel the same way, and if you don't then I'll back off and I'll never bug you about this again,"

". . . . .,"

"I'll let you go. You have "stuff" to do anyway,"

". . .Race?"

"Yeah?"

". . .What are you doing this weekend?"

**

* * *

**

**AN: So? Please be gentle, but no flames! I will. . .toast them and burn them and make. . .stuff out of them. Oh yeah, you heard me. STUFF! Sorry if I'm not going to be able to do shout outs but I will in the next chapter! I'm on the verge of writing it so please REVIEW! Thanks!**

**Dreamless-Mermaid**


	4. Challenge Four: Regrets

Regrets

AN: The challenge: **Write a scene - yes, just a scene, no backstory called for - at the grave of a newsie. Any length, but remember... it's a scene. A snapshot, if you will. **I was feeling kind of angsty at the time, so here is the result. Remember, no flames and please review!**  
**

* * *

She stood, watching through brown watery eyes. The bitter wind and icy blasts made her cheeks rouge and her small nose grow increasingly red. Clear, salty tears made their way down her pale cheeks and jaw line. The black coat she had around her shoulders practically cut off her circulation because it was wrapped around her tiny frame so tightly. Her small hands were stuffed roughly in the coat pockets, covered by leather gloves. Her denim jeans offered little protection from the evil December weather and the two layers of socks she had on inside her snow boots did nothing.

The sky above her looked eerie, black and dark gray clouds loomed like death and the sharp whistling of the wind whipped in her ears like a million tiny screams of pain. Just what I need right now, she thought. More mentions of death.

Questions of every kind were racing throughout her mind. Why did this happen? Why did it have to happen to him? What caused it? She knew why he was gone, though she did not want to grasp the concept. He was sick, he had been for a long time. It was going on three years before he really began to feel anything and went to a doctor. When he was finally diagnosed, he only suffered two months.

Two months of pain, two months of loneliness for she had been in London at the time, starting another scene in her new movie. She got the call two weeks before he died.

She felt a presence walk up behind her and felt the warm hand rest on her shoulder. She put her own hand on top of his and attempted to wipe away the tears of sorrow with her other.

"I should have been there for him," she said.

"Hollywood, it's not your fault. He knew you were busy and he didn't want to-"

"It _is_ my fault, Mush. I told him I would call him every night after filming and did I? No. I always figured that he would understand," she gave a silent sob.

"You couldn't have seen this coming. _He_ didn't even see it coming. Although I did warn him that smoking was bad for his health but you know how he is. Always living life on the edge," she could hear a small grin in his voice. She finally turned to face Mush and the two locked gazes, chocolate brown meeting hazel. His lovely hazel ones, however, were red and his cheeks were just as tear stained as hers and, unlike her, he had not wiped them away. The wind froze them in place and the smallest tear drop looked like an icicle.

"Did he-did he talk about me much while I was gone?" she asked hesitantly, afraid of what the answer might be. Mush just smiled.

"Every day. Sometimes I couldn't get him to shut up," he laughed, but she only mustered a sad smile. The overwhelming urge to cry again swept over her so she turned around sharply, facing the gravestone once again. Her lower lip quivered and before she knew it, before she could stop it, they came down again like a flood. She covered her face in her hands and she felt Mush's strong arms wrap around her, not only to keep her from shivering but to comfort and protect.

"There was nothing you could do," he whispered soothingly in her ear. "Lung cancer has no cure. He _knew_ you loved him and he didn't tell you sooner because he didn't want to worry you. You were following your dream and he didn't want to ruin it."

"He should have ruined it. I would rather not have my acting career than not be with him. I would die myself to be with him, to be loved by him." She sobbed into her hands. Mush sighed and gazed intently at the gravestone a while longer before calling it quits and pulling her along to his warm car.

Trey Marshall 

"_Kid Blink"_

_1979-2004_

_Loving husband, devoted friend, and will be greatly missed_

_Rest In Peace _


	5. Challenge Five: Early Morning Riser

Early Morning Riser

**The Challenge: write a story (length, era, etc. all up to you), but the only two lines of dialogue that you can use are "What are you doing?" and "What does it look like?" **

* * *

"What are you _doing_?" a girl whispered in his ear. Racetrack Higgins opened one eye blearily at the girl in front of him. Her long raven black hair hung around her face frame like a thick curtain and her exciting brown eyes peered into his own.

Racetrack groaned and turned over on his other side. The girl blinked, looking perplexed, then frowned. She dashed over to the other side of the bed and proceeded to use the same method as before. She poked his arm until he groaned again, sat up, took the pillow he was using out from under his head and threw it at her. He turned over again.

The pillow hit the girl in the face and feathers flew out of the ripped up seams. The girl huffed angrily, throwing the now almost featherless pillow on the floor. She said a few words, threatening to leave Racetrack if he didn't get up that very second. No response and the girl huffed again. No sooner had she made the move to turn, Racetrack sprang up from his bed and grabbed the girl by her waist. She screamed as the two fell back together, making the mattress bedsprings groan. A second later and a blanket was over both of them from their head to their waist. Racetrack held the girl in his arms and positioned his face at the nape of her neck so that he was taking in her cinnamon aroma.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Racetrack whispered huskily, his voice cracking from using it this early in the morning. Smiling to herself, the girl closed her eyes and leaned in and wrapped his arms around her waist again. She supposed the papers could wait for just a few more minutes.

**

* * *

****AN: I know, very short. This is also the first few paragraphs of a new story that I'm plot bunny-ing up. I have an idea that Race actually WINS at Sheepshead, like a lot of money, and he keeps winning and then he gets so rich that he turns snob**

Race- ((GASP)) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME, WOMAN?!

**Don't worry! It'll get better, I promise. You seriously don't think I'd turn you snob and LEAVE you like that, do you?**

Race- ((thinks)) Well, knowing you . . .

**Come on! I'm a DIE HARD, HARDCORE, FAN GIRL, Newsies fan! I would do that to you! ((turns to you all)) And if I did, someone please hunt me down and shoot me ((turns back to Race)) Happy?**

Race- ((skeptically)) Maybe . . .

**((sighs)) Just read my new story once it's up. I don't have a title for it yet and I don't know if it's going to be in chapters. I may just make it one huge story, but make the scenes really short and stuff. I don't know, we'll just see what plays out. Review please!**

**Dreamless-Mermaid**


	6. Challenge Six: Valentine's Shower

Valentine's Shower

**AN: Okay, so this is a Valentines Day fic, but it's a little late. Sorry! **

**Blink- A little late? You said you were going to write this over the weekend, but did you? Noooo!**

**Me- ((sighs)) I know, shut up! Winter Break was very busy for me! In a good way of course**

**Blink- Of course**

**Me- Hey, you were the inspiration of this story so I don't want to hear any complaints!**

**Blink- ((brightens)) Really?**

**Me- No, David was my inspiration **

**David- ((looks over)) Someone say my name?**

**Blink- ((frowns)) But I thought _I_. . .**

**Me- ((hits forehead)) Did you NOT catch my sarcasm there, hun?**

**David- Apparently not if your sarcasm's are used through me. ((scoffs)) Like _I _ever give someone inspiration**

**Me- You give Moseph plenty of inspiration! You are her muse aren't you?**

**David- ((considers this)) You're right, that's very true**

**Blink- Can we get back to ME now!**

**David- Blah, blah, blah all about you. You're just an inspiration when I . . .((pauses for effect)) am a muse ((superhero music is switched on by Les)) which is MUCH more impressive than and inspiration**

**Me- ((rolls eyes and turns back to readers)) ANYWAY, yeah, this is also a challenge fic by the way: _The crucial first kiss is ruined by a sudden spring shower. Or is it?_**

**Blink- Hey, I think I'm gonna like this story! ((wiggles eyebrows suggestively))**

**DISCLAIMER: I really don't know why I'm doing this since you all know that I don't own Newsies. If I did, believe me EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU would know it because I'd be bragging about it so much. But, keeping to the writers code: ((monotone voice)) I don't own "Newsies" or any of the characters you recognize. All others own themselves. **

**Now that THAT'S out of the way, please enjoy my ((however belated)) Valentines Day fic**

* * *

It was drawing nearer. The day I was dreading the most was coming upon me like the plague. Everywhere I turned I saw signs of it: In shop windows, online, at school. I knew it would only be a matter of time before it surrounded me and, like a stalker hunting its prey, it would lay low and pounce before I had time to react-

"BOO!" A voice sounded from behind me. I screamed, jumped, and whirled around to come face to face with my ghost: A five foot two red head with a wide smile on her face. I sighed heavily and stared down at her. She didn't cower or retract and she stared up at me, a long way up considering I was about six-foot.

"Red, what was that for?" I asked impatiently. She continued to smile that sickening smile at me.

"I saw you daydreaming, so I figured I'd snap you out of it. Plus we have about five minutes to get to class," she informed me. Oh. Right. Class.

CURSES!

I sighed and turned back to my sickly green coloured locker. Shoving my textbooks fiercely inside, I didn't notice my other friends approach me and Red. Their voices chattered behind me and their high pitched shrieks nauseated me even more. Just the sound of their giggles sent me into a spiraling hatred. You may ask what my cause is for hating today. I hate everyday that I'm at school, but I REALLY hate today.

Looking around me, I see girls carrying red balloons with white ribbon tied around their wrists. I see huge cardboard boxes shaped like hearts (no doubt filled with yummy chocolate). I see cute, fluffy teddy bears and dozens of beautiful red roses. I even spy my neighbor showing off her new diamond necklace to her girlfriends while they giggle and admire it.

Got ANY clue of why I'm hating today? Yes, my friends, that's right.

It's Valentines Day.

V-Day, oh how I loathe thee. Let me count the ways: It's a Hallmark holiday, it's just an excuse to sell cards. It's another excuse to get us girls fat with all the different kinds of chocolate . . .Sweet, milky, caramely goodness . . . Every year I watch all of the couples, holding hands or snuggling or kissing. Don't get me wrong, I don't like V-Day because I don't have a boyfriend; I've never liked it, and I don't think I ever will.

"Joey, what did Race get you?" Michelle, or Moseph as we all call her, squealed excitedly. Josephine, Joey, smirked at Moseph and she pushed back the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a beautiful topaz bracelet. Moseph and Kathleen, Red, stared at the fine specimen, their eyes sparkling with jealousy. Joey put her arm down and the sparkle was gone.

"Has Davey gotten you anything, Moseph?" Joey asked. Moseph pouted.

"No, not even a card."

"Do you think he could have forgotten that today is one of the single most important days in a woman's life?" Red asked.

"Highly unlikely, seeing as how Moseph wouldn't stop reminding him all last week." I said and Moseph grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, hey, hey Ms. Grouchy, leave the poor girl alone. If Dave doesn't come up with anything today, we might just have to rush this girl to the hospital." Red defended. I rolled my eyes as Moseph threw her arm out dramatically and pretended to faint, falling back and landing unexpectedly into strong arms. Moseph looked up curiously to find a pair of crystal blue eyes staring down at her amusingly.

"Davey! We were just talking about you!" Moseph said, standing up and turning to give her boyfriend a hug. David laughed.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Moseph shrugged.

"I can be a surprising girl." David grinned.

"Hey look, Dave, it's your bodyguards!" Joey joked. Jack, Racetrack, Mush and Spot weren't exactly bodyguards. More like big teddy bears. They may look tough on the outside, but on the inside they're as harmless as kittens. Jack walked up to Red and gave her a small peck on the cheek and she smiled up at him. Racetrack discreetly took a hold of Joey's hand and Mush and Spot stood on the sidelines watching all of this with amusement.

Le sigh.

Why can't _I _get a boy? What's wrong with _me_? I secretly think it's because of my height and guys are intimidated by it. Hell, I'm taller or as tall as ALL of the guys here at school. Am I fat? No, that's what every girl thinks when some of them weigh, like, 100 pounds and are as skinny as a stick. No curves whatsoever. It's kind of gross, actually, now that I think about it.

I sighed. There was only one boy for me, but he would never know that, and I KNOW that he would never see me that way. As I looked at Mush and Spot I felt a bit better. They don't have girlfriends.

MWAHA! Now we can have a pity party!

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Came a new voice. Ah and there's the boy now.

"Hey, Blink. What up, yo?" David said and everyone stared at him. "What?"

"Davey, don't say that. It's not a good image for you." Moseph patted his shoulder.

"You say it all the time!"

"That's because when _she _says it, it doesn't sound dorky." Jack explained. David frowned.

"Oh yeah well . . .You can't dance! Ha! So there!" David retorted childishly. Moseph raised an eyebrow.

"Neither can you." She said bluntly.

"Damn you."

"ANYWAY," Racetrack interrupted. "What's up, Blink?"

"Not a whole lot. God, I hate school," he complained. Everyone, especially I, mumbled our agreements. "You know what else I don't like? Valentines Day," I picked my head up to look at Blink instead of the lint on my hoodie. Do my ears deceive me? "I mean, it's a pointless holiday. It's a bad excuse to shove cards on us, guys always have to go out and get something nice for their girlfriend, not that I wouldn't do that anyway, and I just . . .I hate it." WOW! My crush hating Valentines Day just as much as I do! This is an unexpected turn of events!

I pushed my way through my group of friends to stand in front of Kid Blink, I prefer to call him Blink though. I've always been friends with him. Well, ever since he moved here. He was new to the school last semester and we hit it off right from the start. Granted I don't know EVERYTHING about him yet, but this is a great excuse to get to know him!

"You hate V-Day too, Blink?" I asked hopefully.

"Definitely. I've never liked it and I don't think I ever will," Blink said, readjusting his backpack straps to fit more comfortably on his shoulders. A choir of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus played in my head. DUDE, THIS GUY IS PERFECT FOR ME! We've known each other for a whole semester and already we have the same taste in music, same political views, same opinions about Valentines Day . . .I mean, he must have been sent from the GODS! Remembering an article about the 5 flirting techniques (I don't read CosmoGIRL! it just happened to be lying on Moseph's bed, so I picked it up), I decided to compliment him on something because there are just so many things.

"That's awesome! So do I. I notice your shirt is new. It's cool, I shop at Old Navy too," No shit! He knows that! Why the HELL would you compliment on that! You are pathetic. But Blink grinned.

"Really? I got it yesterday, ten percent off!" He smiled now. Dear Lord that boy has a nice smile. For about thirty seconds, although it seemed like hours, we had nothing to say so we simply stared at each other. None of us had to look up or down because we're both the same height, which is great. Hmmm . . .I wonder what would happen if I just lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Let's try . . .I took a step toward him but before I could get any closer, the annoying tardy bell rang and echoed throughout the hall. Every one of us looked at each other.

"SHIT!" We shouted and bolted in separate directions. Me, Red, and Joey went left down the hallway, while Spot and Blink went right and Racetrack, Jack, Mush and Moseph turned andran through the third hallway.

* * *

The three of us skidded to a halt outside our English 3 classroom and since Joey was the one leading the way, she grabbed the handle and turned. We fell into the room in a heap and found everyone chattering away. They didn't look up when we came in and neither did our teacher, Mr. McCartney. We tiptoed to our seats and sat down smoothly, breathing sighs of relief that we weren't caught.

"All right, guys, settle down. Kathleen, Danielle, Josephine, see me after class please." said Mr. McCartney without looking up from his desk. We looked at each and groaned. What a GREAT way to start the morning.

All throughout class, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I was so drained from last night. The girls came over so we could have a study session for our Chemistry test tomorrow but instead of studying, we ended up playing games, watching TV and completely blowing off our review questions. They had to stay the night and we didn't go to bed until about two in the morning. Ugh . . . need . . .sleep!

Something hit me on my left temple, something that felt like a wadded up piece of paper. Sure enough, I looked down to find that a crumpled up ball had crash-landed in front of me. I looked to my left and saw Red staring ahead. I figured it was from her because she was the only one I knew that would do this. Mr. McCartney's back was turned, so I took the opportunity to open the paper ball and read Red's message.

_What was up with you and Blink this morning?_

I scribbled my reply:

_What do you mean?_

I crumpled it up again and tossed it back to her. My attention turned to Mr. McCartney, who was looking down, and I heard Red write back and crumple it up.

_I mean, you shoved me and Joey out of the way to get to him. What was up with that?_

I frowned. Surely she should know by now. I thought it was pretty obvious.

_Whatever you thought I did, I didn't mean to. I was trying to talk to him more_

I heard Red sigh.

_You two are the tallest people in our group, you can talk over everyone else_

I raised my eyebrow.

_Thanks for stating the obvious, Captain Duh. I was TRYING to flirt with him_

Red gasped.

_Flirt? Do you LIKE him?_

I restrained myself from screaming at her. So, I took it out on the paper.

_NO SHIT! I thought it was pretty obvious because, according to everyone else, I'm the most obvious flirter in the world! I thought I told you anyway_

I tossed it back to her and if I had been standing in front of her she would have shaken her head and grinned at me.

_No, you NEVER told me! I had no idea! OMG so you like Blink. He's gorgeous, you'll be the envy of every girl when you guys start going out_

I scoffed.

_You mean, IF we start going out_

Red sighed.

_You will, trust me. He likes you_

My eyes widened.

_How do you know that?_

Red chuckled.

_I can see it. Just the way he looks at you he's probably screaming in his head to get his courage up and ask you out_

I snorted.

_So you can see that Blink likes me but you can't tell with me? Wow, what a GREAT best friend you are_

_You're just FULL of sarcasm today, aren't you?_

The bell rang and everyone hastily gathered up their stuff. "Damn straight I am." I said to Red. She smiled.

* * *

At lunch, I met up with Red, Joey, Moseph and the guys. We set our stuff down and we walked to the lunch line to buy our food. After English, Mr. McCartney just gave us the usual lecure about how we know the rules if we're late. But he let us off with a warning. Life is good.

"What was that little war ball conversation you guys kept having in English?" Joey asked Red and me.

"Hollywood likes Blink!" Red burst out like she couldn't restrain herself any longer. Moseph and Joey rolled their eyes.

"Well, duh. I've known that, that's nothing new." Moseph said.

"Yeah, I saw it last week when we were at the movies. Hollywood couldn't stop staring at him." Joey said.

"You guys know I'm standing right here, right?" I said sarcastically. Red's mouth was hanging open in astonishment.

"How could you two know when _I _didn't even know!" She turned to me. "Did you tell them?" I shook my head. I didn't really tell anyone, now that I think about it. I don't know why either because normally when I have a crush on a guy and I realize it, I'd run to tell them. Red crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "This isn't fair." Joey put a hand on her shoulder.

"LIFE isn't fair, Red." She said.

"Soooo are you going to ask him out?" Moseph asked excitedly, deliberately changing the subject. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm such an old fashioned girl, I'd want _him _to ask _me _out, but I seriously doubt he would." I said, paying for my popcorn chicken.

"Why do you say that?" Red asked, paying for her food. When Joey and Moseph paid for theirs, we made our way back to the table.

"I guess I don't find myself attractive is all." I continued. The girls scoffed.

"Oh please, don't give me that crap, Hollywood. I think you're very pretty and if Blink can't see how great a girl you are, then you don't need him." Moseph said. We sat down just as Mush and Jack arrived from the other lunch line. Moseph was right. Plenty of people like me for who I am and if he can't accept that, than screw him. I can find someone better.

"What are we talking about?" Spot asked, taking out his brown paper bag.

"Nothing that concerns you, Spotty." Joey said. Spot raised an eyebrow.

"_Spotty_? That's a new one." Racetrack laughed as he ate his cold pizza. Spot glared at him.

"Shove it, Race." He growled. Racetrack shrugged and continued to eat. I love my friends.

"So, Dani, what were you guys talking about?" I heard Blink ask. At first I thought he was talking to someone else, but when I turned to look at him I found him looking straight at me. I glanced behind me and looked left and right and then back at him with an extremely confused look on my face.

"I'm sorry, are you talking to _me_?" I asked. He frowned.

"Yeah, who else could be called 'Dani'?" Blink asked, equally confused.

"I've just never been called Dani before, I always introduce myself as Hollywood and that's what everyone calls me. Sorry." I apologized and smiled.

"I don't understand the thing with the nicknames. As soon as I got here, Jack grabbed me up and named me like a pet." Blink said.

"I didn't grab you! I just put my arm around your shoulder and steered you to our group was all." Jack corrected.

"Hey, be lucky he did, otherwise you would have ended up like those assholes over there," Joey said, pointing to the football players at a nearby table, who were laughing like a bunch of gorillas. "Jack saved your ass, I think you owe him a lot."

"Joey!" Race said. Joey shrugged.

"I'm just saying that Blink should be a little more grateful that Jack saved him from a terrible fate."

"What's so terrible about being a football player?" Blink asked, eyebrow raised. Everyone glanced at each other and we were all thinking the same thing. Time to teach this kid our ways of life here at East Central High School.

"Well see, Kid, there are certain groups, cliques if you will, that can either be evil or good. Take our group for example. We don't judge other people unless we know them really well, we don't talk about other people behind their back and we don't make fun of people just because of what they're wearing or how they act. Basically, we're the kind of friends you can trust. Sure we rebel sometimes, but we're teenagers what do you expect?" Mush explained. All Blink could do was stare at him.

"Then there are some people, like the Preps or the Jocks, who think they are above everyone else. They strut around the school like they own it, especially the seniors just because they've been here three years longer than everyone else has. _They're _the ones who are jerks to everyone but no one does anything about it." Spot contributed.

"Okay, so the football players count as jocks?" Blink asked.

"Jocks, Preps, pricks, call 'em what you want. They're all the same." Red said and we all laughed.

"Didn't you have cliques at your old school?" I asked. Blink shook his head.

"I've never heard about any of these so called "Cliques" until now. I've been home schooled all my life," Everyone's jaw dropped. HOME SCHOOLED! "What?"

"Man you've been sheltered." Race said. Blink laughed.

"Just from school gossip and things like that. I still got out and did stuff, but mostly with my parents. I didn't have many friends." Blink explained.

"So what made you suddenly come to a public school?" Moseph asked incredulously. "If I had a choice, I would NEVER have left home! You get to sleep in late and do your work in your pajamas. Who would choose public school over _that_?"

"Maybe that's what you've heard from some people, but that's not how it worked at my house. My parents worked all the time and they hired a private tutor from eight to three," Moseph's eyes widened. "teaching me everything that's taught in regular schools. I never got to sleep in, except on the weekends, and I've been driving since I turned fifteen. With my parents gone all the time, they wanted me to run errands for them, like pick up groceries and stuff like that. I chose to come here because I wanted to make more friends."

"In the middle of your senior year?" I asked, both eyebrows raised. Blink simply shrugged.

"I wanted to see what I've been missing out on. Personally, I'm glad I've been home schooled. But I am happy that I made new friends." Call me crazy, but when he said that, he was looking STRAIGHT at me. Like in my eyes at me! It made me shiver a bit but also thinking about what Red said. That he liked me too. Ha! THAT I seriously doubt. Everyone talked a bit more about home schooling life and how great it would be, when Red asked me something.

"So, Hollywood, are you doing anything tonight? You know, it being _Valentines Day_ and all." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at me and signaled to Blink with her eyes. I glared at her.

"No, Red, I'm not. Are you?" I glanced at Jack, who smirked. I'll take that as a "yes".

"We should get together tonight! All the couples go out on a group date!" Moseph suggested brightly.

"What about us that _don't _have a date?" Mush asked, frowning. Red rolled her eyes.

"Then find someone who's willing. You have girls crawling all over you half of the time, it shouldn't be _that _hard." She said bluntly.

"Uhm, what about those who no one likes like that?" I asked. Red restrained herself from rolling her eyes again. Instead, she raised an eyebrow at me and discreetly pointed to Blink under the table and mouthed that I should ask him. I mouthed "no!" back.

"Why don't we just go? All of us? Spot and Mush can find dates easily, like Red said. I don't know anyone well enough to ask, so me and Dani can just hang out together." Oh my God that was practically asking me out! Not me directly of course, but I assumed he figured out that I was talking about me when I asked what about those who no one likes like that. Ugh, there it was again. I turned to him.

"You're just dead set on calling me Dani aren't you?" I asked. He grinned.

"Yep."

* * *

So it was set. All of us were to hang out at the park, just an informal gathering, nothing too special. I got out of my car and I heard thunder roll. I looked up and found the sky slowly going gray. This was not a good sign. I leaned up against my car to wait for everyone else, all the while the temperature was gradually lowering.

Blink showed up about five minutes later, riding in his black Mustang, pulling into the parking space next to my little midnight blue Mini Cooper.

"Hey, you made it." I said, wrapping my arms around myself. Me, stupidly, forgot to grab my hoodie on my way out. I was halfway here when I remembered it.

"Yeah!" he said and noticed me shivering. "You cold?" I nodded and he walked over to me and took off his dark green hoodie. He offered it to me but I shook my head.

"Oh no, that's okay. I'm not _that _cold."

"Just take it. Knowing you, it would get colder and you'd complain." Blink smirked when I glared at him.

"How do you know what I'm like? You've only just discovered my true side," I said, my stupid pride getting in the way. A gust of wind blew fiercely and that made me shiver more. I glared coldly at Blink and grabbed the hoodie and hastily put it on. "Damn you." Blink laughed and we talked for a bit while we waited for the others to arrive.

Ten minutes later, and no one else showed up. I checked my watch and Blink checked his.

"We did set the time for seven, right?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah . . .At least, I _thought _we did. I really wasn't paying attention, so maybe Moseph said eleven?" Damn, that was a good lie. I wasn't paying attention because I was daydreaming about what Blink and I could do while everyone had a good time. NOT in that way! I mean what we could talk about. I flirt and flounce and he would get closer to me and lean in . . .

"Is that someone?" Blink cut through my thoughts and pointed to oncoming headlights. I looked where he pointed, but the car just passed by.

"Apparently not." I sighed.

"Well let's go walking. If anyone shows up they can just call you on your cell, right?" Blink asked.

"Yeah, that's true. Okay, so a walk it is." I said and we began our walk into the park. We didn't say anything to each other for a while, just took in the beauty that surrounded us. The wind picked up again and it blew the trees and swing sets, the sky now almost black. I ran over to the swing sets and plopped myself down in one and started to swing. Blink jogged over and sat in the vacant swing next to me and sat unmoving, watching me swing.

I knew that he could see the huge grin that was plastered on my face, but I didn't care. I love swings; I've loved them since I could remember. I used to think I was flying when I was younger just because how high up I used to get. I still think that if it wasn't for gravity, I could defy it and just leap off the swing and start to float.

The wind whipped in my face, pushing my hair back, and I could smell rain on the way, and a lot of it.

"Why do you suppose people do that?" Blink asked, still watching me swing. I turned to him and the wind cut through the side of my hair.

"Do what?"

"Look totally at peace when they swing." I shrugged.

"It's a peaceful place to be, at least for me it is. It's a good spot to come and think. I used to live around here before I moved, and everytime I needed to escape, this is the place I would come to." I turned my face back to the wind and continued to climb high. Blink stared up at me.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Holy crap. WHAT did he just say! I turned my head to look at him again, but this time pretending his comment didn't faze me.

"Why do you say that?" Hey, I'm trying to be cool here! Blink shrugged.

"You understand people and you have this energy that can light up a room when you enter it. I'm not trying to sound like a fairy tale, I'm just saying what is true." Oh my God . . .He REALLY thinks that about me? I want to shout to the world how happy I am that he's taking notice of me, but I just kept swinging and trying to act casual even though my heart was racing a hundred miles an hour.

Finally, I slowed my swinging and came to a gradual stop next to Blink. I sighed. "All right, who put you up to this?" Blink looked shocked.

"What do you mean?" See, even though I was ecstatic and wanting to do cartwheels, another part of me was questioning myself if I should believe him. Did someone dare him to say that? Is he doing it on his own? Would Red or Moseph or Joey pop out from behind a tree with a video camera and yell, "Gotcha! That was priceless!" . . .No, they would never do that to me! Maybe I'm just going crazy.

"Has anyone made a bet with you to see how long it would take me to like you by you saying all these things to me?" I asked. Blink grinned. Oh no, I was right! HOW could I have been so stupid! Idiot, idiot, idi-

"Actually, that was all me. I didn't make a bet with anyone. I meant everything I just said."

WHOA!

"Really? Seriously? Wow . . .I was WAY off," I laughed nervously and Blink smiled.

I'm so happy I could melt.

"It's all right, I would be worried too. But there is something . . ." Oh crap.

"What's that?" I asked nervously. Blink fidgeted in his swing and suddenly would not meet my eyes. Hmmm . . .that's odd. "Blink, what's up?"

"I kind of . . .sort of . . .told the others not to come tonight." He confessed.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused. He looked up at me with the one gorgeous baby blue eye and stared intently into my own chocolate brown. He sighed just as a huge clap of thunder echoed throughout the park. We both jumped.

"I'm not good at this . . .I wanted to ask you out-"

"Like on a date?" I interrupted. Blink paused.

"Yeah. But everytime I got the courage to ask you, you're friends would be around and I never got a chance. So I asked everyone to go to a restaurant or something and we would meet up with them later." Blink sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I know it's weird that I can sweet talk to a girl but I can never just get to my point."

I sat there, listening to him talk about wanting to _ask me out_ and I swear I almost got faint. DAMMIT for Red being right!

"Well uhm . . uh, I mean . . .well, that was certainly unexpected," I stuttered. I took a deep breath and waited for my nerves to calm down before continuing on. "I've been wanting to ask you out for a while too. I like you A LOT and . . .I'm a coward like that and knowing me I would be too scared to ask you out in person or over the phone. I would result to doing it online." All right, now I'm just rambling. Focus, Dani, FOCUS! This is the boy of your dreams here, don't screw it up! But to my surprise, Blink laughed.

"Same here. It took me a lot to actually come out and say it. I don't think I could do it again, I made an exception for you because . . .I really like you."

That did it. My heart melted and I felt like pulling a Galinda and squeaking with delight. 'La la la la! I'm popular!' With him anyway. We sat together in a peaceful silence, mulling over our thoughts. I glanced up at him and caught him staring at me. I couldn't help it, his luminous orbs were pulling me in and I leaned closer. Just as our lips were about touch, a final roll of thunder sounded and a downpour of rain pounded down on us like a water hose. We shouted as we launched ourselves from the swings and sprinted to the closest covering.

Laughing, we looked at each other's soaked clothes.

"That was kind of fun!" I said, still giggling.

"I hate the rain," Blink wrinkled his nose.

"Really? I love it, I think it's the best thing in the world." I said. Blink rolled his eye and I suddenly had an idea. I looked at him and smirked. He saw me and raised an eyebrow and I ran out into the rain again. "Try and catch me!"

"Dani! Hey, that's not fair! Come back!" Blink shouted from the safety of the covering. I shook my head.

"Nope. If you want me, come and get me." I shouted over the rain. Blink sighed and ran out into the rain. I squeaked and turned to run, but the ground was already turned to mud and it was very slippery. We raced around the playground, me leaping through the jungle gym and twisting around the swings while Blink chased after me. He put on a burst of speed and in one leap, he caught me around the waist and we dived headfirst into the largest puddle of mud.

We laughed hysterically and we wrestled a bit and he sat on top of me and pinned me back by the arms. I struggled to get loose but to no avail.

"Damn you for making me run after you," Blink cursed. I grinned.

"Well I said I like you but that doesn't mean I'm easy to catch." Blink raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Would I have caught you if I did this?" Still pinned back by my arms, Blink leaned down and hesitantly placed a kiss on my lips. I looked up at him and raised my head and kissed him back. I was trying to get him to actually KISS me, not just a peck. Apparently he got the idea and he leaned down again and kissed me right.

I know this sounds cliché, but at that moment fireworks exploded in my head and heart and my stomach experienced so many butterflies I thought someone had taken a hundred jars of them and let them loose in my stomach.

The rain continued to strike us, but we didn't mind. As Blink broke the kiss and finally unpinned my arms, he got off of me and laid down beside me. We linked hands and stared up at the sky. I grinned.

"Still hate Valentines Day?" I asked. Blink laughed.

"Yup."

"Me too." We smiled and we lay together in the mud, perfectly content with the world. As much as I hate Valentines Day, today turned out to be the best day of my life . . .and I couldn't be happier.

**

* * *

****AN- Ending was all right. Not the best, but better than what I normally would have written at 12 in the morning. LoL**

**Newsies – ((cheering and whistling)) **

**Me – ((bows to the newsies and her audience)) I know this is like a month late, but PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! Too much stuff is going on in my life! Argh! But at least it's up, right? **

**_LOTS_ of Wicked references in here and those who are a die hard fan shouldn't have had any trouble picking them out ((COUGHelphieandmosephCOUGH)) I already did this once and I don't want to have to do it again.**

**Jack – Meaning she won't bother to put in disclaimers**

**Blink – As everyone should already know that Dani doesn't own any of the things you recognize**

**Mush – Just herself**

**Me- ((beams at the boys)) I've taught you all so well! ((hugs them)) **

**Spot – She also don't own her friends, Joey, Moseph and Red**

**Me – LOVE YOU GUYS! **

**David – As THEY belong to themselves**

**Me - . . .Wow, I should just have you guys do the disclaimers. It makes my life so much easier**

**Anyway, thanks to all those who reviewed my last challenge. I swear, next time there WILL be shout outs. I need sleep now so thanks in advance to those who review this challenge. BYE GUYS!**

**Dreamless-Mermaid **


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